Beau Biden undergoes hospital tests at M.D. Anderson

Vehicles that are part of Vice President Joe Biden's motorcade drive through the Texas Medical Center Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, in Houston. The Vice President's son Beau Biden is undergoing tests at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Photo By Charles Dharapak/STF

Vice President Joe Biden, left, with his son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.

Photo By Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle

An officer stands in front of the entrance where Vice President Joe Biden reportedly entered Tuesday morning to see his son at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Details of Beau Biden's condition have not been disclosed.

President Barack Obama, center and Beau Biden, Attorney of Deleware, right, watch as his father Joe Biden is sworn in at the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., is seen at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008.

Beau Biden, Delaware's attorney general and the eldest son of Vice President Joe Biden, has had a successful procedure at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and will return home, his father said today.

"Yesterday our son Beau underwent a successful procedure," the Vice President said in a statement released by the White House. " He is in great shape and is going to be discharged tomorrow and heading home to Delaware. He will follow up with his local physicians in the coming weeks."

Beau Biden underwent tests at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Tuesday, the third hospital he's visited in the past week about an episode of weakness and disorientation.

Earlier, a spokesman in the Delaware attorney general's office would not comment on the younger Biden's condition or give any further details at this time about his visit to Houston.

An NBC affiliate in Washington, quoting unnamed sources, said the tests in Houston were to rule out cancer. It said that sources familiar with Biden's condition said that a biopsy would be conducted and that it could take days for the pathology to be studied under a microscope

It was unclear exactly when Biden began tests Tuesday. But after a motorcade of six sports utility vehicles stopped at M.D. Anderson's ambulance emergency entrance about 10:30 a.m., a hospital employee reported seeing the vice president walk into the hospital.

The vehicles departed shortly before 5 p.m.

The Bidens arrived in Houston Monday. They dined at D'Amico's Italian Market Cafe in the Rice Village Monday night, and Beau Biden tweeted a photo of his wife, Hallie, and him Tuesday morning that read "Touched by all your well wishes - thank you. Nice evening in Houston w/Hallie; will share update when we have it. -bb."

Biden's visit to M.D. Anderson followed previous stints at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. A statement from his office Monday night said that he was admitted to Northwestern on Wednesday night after feeling weak and disoriented, following a long drive to Indiana for a family vacation.

"The next morning, feeling better, he traveled to Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia to consult with his doctor about his earlier symptoms," the statement said. "The attorney general was discharged and spent the weekend at home in Wilmington."

Biden, who suffered what was described as a mild stroke in 2010, is undergoing testing "to investigate the cause of his symptoms," the Delaware Department of Justice statement said.

M.D. Anderson, a component of the University of Texas System, is the state's cancer hospital but draws patients from the nation and world because of its renowned, cutting-edge care.

Officials at M.D. Anderson said they have no information.

Low-key meal

Biden, 44, was elected in 2006 as Delaware's attorney general and is serving his second term.

A former federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, he served in Iraq for one year as a captain with the Delaware Army National Guard. He was considered a front-runner to fill his father's former U.S. Senate seat in 2010, but decided against running for higher office. The attorney general and his wife have two children.

D'Amico's owner Nash D'Amico said the restaurant only had about 15 minutes notice before the Secret Service came in to check out the dining room.

"They called and asked if I could accommodate at table of 15," said D'Amico, who quickly moved a couple of patrons to accommodate the vice president's dinner party.

D'Amico described the hourlong meal as low-key. He said a crowd gathered to greet the party as it exited the restaurant.